Protests Aren't Rebellions Justifying The Guard, 7th Circ. Says

By Dorothy Atkins

The Seventh Circuit elaborated Thursday on its reasoning for denying the Trump administration's request to stay a ruling blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, noting that "spirited, sustained and occasionally violent actions" of protest demonstrators, without more, don't constitute a "rebellion" that would justify deploying the Guard.

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Insurer Didn't Owe Coverage To IT Co. In BIPA Violation Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify an information technology company in a class action alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, a state appeals court affirmed, finding that underlying events occurred before the claims-made policy's retroactive date.

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7th Circ. Affirms French Montana's Win In Copyright Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Seventh Circuit on Thursday backed French Montana's win in a copyright case brought by a musician who alleged the rapper sampled his instrumental song to make the hit single "Ain't Worried About Nothin'," saying there wasn't evidence to show Montana duplicated the work "as opposed to merely imitating it."

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Brief

Fans Drop Biometric Privacy Suit Against Chicago Cubs

By Jonathan Capriel

Baseball game attendees who accused the Chicago Cubs of collecting, without consent, the biometric data of millions of fans at Wrigley Field have agreed to drop their proposed class action claims against the team and others.

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Ill. Judge Tosses Law Firm's $36M Pandemic Loan Fraud Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

An Illinois federal judge dismissed a Michigan law firm's $36 million whistleblower suit against dozens of automotive dealerships, ruling that the information underpinning its claims of pandemic loan fraud was already publicly available.

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States Battle Trump Admin To Recover Solar Program Funds

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Attorneys general from across the country are suing the Trump administration for allegedly violating the Constitution and federal law by canceling a $7 billion program providing solar equipment to low-income households.

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Tech Co. Gets Ex-Employee's Bias Suit Shipped To Texas

By Patrick Hoff

An information technology services company must face a Black former employee's lawsuit claiming she was fired for complaining about a supervisor's racist remarks, an Illinois federal judge ruled, but said the case should be sent to Texas based on the worker's employment agreement.

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Songwriters Claim Udio AI Was Trained On Copyrighted Music

By Elliot Weld

A group of songwriters is suing artificial intelligence company Udio AI, claiming its music-generating AI models were trained using copyrighted music scraped from the internet.

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USDA Can't Curb SNAP Benefits As States Fight Data Demand

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Wednesday preliminarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding potentially billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit funds from states that refuse to turn over highly sensitive personal information on millions of SNAP food assistance benefit recipients.

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Trump Taps V&E's Swett As New FERC Chair

By Keith Goldberg

President Donald Trump will appoint Vinson & Elkins LLP energy regulatory counsel Laura Swett as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House confirmed to Law360 Thursday.

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Series

Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

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Ex-Trump Aide Bolton Indicted Over Classified Info Handling

By Lauren Berg

John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a Maryland federal grand jury on charges related to the handling of classified information.

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Judge Shields Migrants From ICE After Courthouse Arrests

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining two asylum-seeking mothers without notice and a hearing, ruling the agency's courthouse arrest tactics likely violate due process.

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Many NY Trial Judges Elevated In Secret, Report Finds

By Frank G. Runyeon

Hundreds of New York state judges are permanently elevated to top trial courts via a secretive appointment process, according to a report released Thursday.

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Analysis

Why Ethics Complaints Against Halligan Face 'Very High Bar'

By Phillip Bantz

Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia could face bar disciplinary action or court sanctions if the prosecutions she's pursuing at President Donald Trump's behest are found to be politically motivated or baseless, although proving ethics allegations will be an uphill battle, experts say.

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Ex-Va. Federal Prosecutor Joins NY AG James' Defense Team

By Lauren Berg

The former deputy criminal chief for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk, Virginia, Thursday joined the team defending New York Attorney General Letitia James in the government's case accusing her of mortgage-related fraud, filed after the president encouraged prosecutors to take action against his "guilty as hell" political opponents.

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5th Circ. Calls For Narrow Sanctions In Southwest Bias Fight

By Grace Elletson

The Fifth Circuit stood by its decision to scuttle a contempt order mandating religious bias training for attorneys representing Southwest Airlines in a flight attendant's discrimination suit, but tweaked a May panel ruling to instruct a trial court to impose "narrowly tailored" sanctions.

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Saul Ewing Asks For End To Ex-Conrail CEO's Legal Mal Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Following a federal court decision upholding an $11 million arbitration award against former Conrail CEO David LeVan that stemmed from a failed Gettysburg casino project, Saul Ewing has urged a Philadelphia judge to find that LeVan is time-barred from bringing his malpractice case against the firm, in which he accused it of poorly advising him during the fallout of the collapsed deal.

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IRS Agents Lose Defamation Suit Against Hunter Biden's Atty

By Anna Scott Farrell

An attorney who defended Hunter Biden against criminal tax charges was only expressing his legal opinion when he accused Internal Revenue Service agents of illegally disclosing his client's private tax information, a D.C. federal judge ruled in dismissing the agents' complaint for defamation.

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Analysis

Kirk-Related Visa Revocations May Rub Against Court Rulings

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration's revocation of visas from individuals who criticized Charlie Kirk after his death raises First Amendment concerns that could run up against a recent federal court ruling holding that noncitizens have the same free speech rights as U.S. citizens.

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Bannon Tells Justices Legal Advice Dooms Contempt Rap

By Cara Salvatore

A lawyer's advice to Steve Bannon not to respond to a congressional subpoena over the Jan. 6 insurrection means he couldn't have "willfully" flouted the subpoena and negates his conviction, the onetime Trump adviser has told the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Rely On 'Soured' Logic

By Katie Buehler

President Donald Trump and a cadre of supporters have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to wipe out what remains of a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, arguing the decision was flawed when originally issued and is now well past its prime. 

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US Chamber Sues To Block Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the Trump administration on Thursday to block a planned increase in the cost of highly coveted H-1B visas, saying the proposed $100,000 fee would have a "devastating effect" on American businesses, particularly those in the tech, healthcare, higher education and manufacturing sectors.

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ABA Says Attys Must Be Clear About Neutrality In Mediations

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys who agree to work as neutral, third-party mediators must make it explicitly clear that they are not advising or holding privilege with participants, the American Bar Association has warned in its latest ethics opinion.

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Brief

US Attorney Nominations For Missouri And Indiana Advance

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve, along party lines, two U.S. attorney nominees for Missouri and Indiana on Thursday.

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